Her Chance
by ShakespearesAlexa
Summary: Kagome has just returned after a three year absence, but she didn't expect what happened when she emerged from the well. Who will be there to comfort her this time after Inuyasha runs away? Rated T to cover all bases.
1. The Incident at the Well

_When am I going to learn? _She thought to herself dejectedly.

She sat on the edge of the old well and scuffed her feet at the grass as she thought about what had just happened.

~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~

_After three years, she was finally coming back! _

_The light covered her in a warmth she had missed as she traveled back to the Warring Era. When she arrived at the other side of the well a bright day welcomed her. She reached up, not surprised at all to see that he was there. His golden eyes captured her warm brown ones in what she thought to be a loving gaze. He helped her out of the well carefully, as if afraid she would disappear on him again, and he set her down beside him gently. _

"_Kagome."_

"_Inuyasha." It felt so good to say his name, so _right. _She rushed forward to hug him tightly, burying her face in his fire-rat robes, breathing him in. _

_But he didn't return the hug._

_Instead, he slowly pushed her away._

"_Kagome, I have to talk to you."_

End~~~~~~~~~~

He had told her that he loved her then pushed her away. Once again he was running towards _Kikyo. _

"I don't care if there's a chance for her to be revived," Kagome muttered darkly. "I just wanted to be with him. _He's _the reason why I tried so hard to come back!" She pounded her fist against the aged wood that she rested on in a show of frustration. But, she didn't want to feel this pain anymore. Before he left, she had removed the subjugation beads that kept him under her thumb. He gave her a small nod of appreciation before running off in a blur of red, silver, and gold.

Kagome sat there, and cried.

After a while, she felt a familiar presence; looking to the trees for something she couldn't yet see she called out, "Sesshomaru-sama?"

He emerged from the shadows with a quiet, "Hn." His long silver hair flowed down his back and danced lithely in the slight breeze. He golden eyes, set off by his magenta markings and the blue crescent moon on his forehead, bored into hers. She sniffled quietly and wiped her eyes with her shirt sleeve.

"Dressed in white again I see?" She asked, trying to make light of the situation. She had no idea of what had gone on after she wished on the jewel. Whether or not Sesshomaru still harbored ill will for her was unknown, and she didn't want to risk her neck this soon upon returning to the past. As expected, he didn't answer, merely staring her down in that way of his. Kagome stood and bowed to the demon lord, deciding respect would keep her alive longest. He gave an imperceptible nod of his head and she took it as a sign that she could resume sitting.

"How is it that you have returned, miko?" Sesshomaru's deep voice caught her off guard, but she quickly swept away her surprise and turned to look at him.

"That's right, huh? You never did find out about where I came from…" Kagome thought for a minute to herself about telling him the truth, but she figured she might as well now that Naraku had been defeated.

"You may want to sit down; it's a bit of a long story." When he only continued to look at her without a shred of emotion visible, she shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Kagome proceeded to tell Sesshomaru everything that had happened. From that first, albeit accidental, time she came through the well on her fifteenth birthday, to her unhappy return just a few hours before he arrived. Throughout the entire tale the Inu lord never said a word; he only occasionally blinked in an uninterested manner.

"As that's why I'm here now." She finished rather unceremoniously. "And now that I'm back I've been abandoned _again_ and can't return home. She felt her eyes begin to water, but she blinked back the tears. She refused to cry over Inuyasha anymore.

Sesshomaru hadn't yet left, so she took that as a good sign. Truthfully, Kagome felt that a large weight had been lifted from her after telling her story.

"Sesshomaru-sama?" He remained unmoving, but Kagome knew he wasn't ignoring her. "Thank you, for listening. I honestly don't know what I would have done if you had not come along when you did." She lowered her gaze to the ground. "If you go by the village, please tell Rin that I say hello. I'm sure she'll pass my greeting on to everyone else." With what she felt she needed to say done, she stood to leave. She didn't quite know where she would go, but she didn't want to stick around the place where Inuyasha would eventually return.

Kagome was surprised be the feeling of a one-armed youkai patting her on the head.

"There. There." Sesshomaru said, somewhat awkwardly. She appreciated that he seemed to be trying to comfort her, in his way. Kagome sniffed again and looked up at the demon that had tried so many times in the past to kill her. "Thanks, Sesshomaru-sama." He nodded and stepped away.

"I wish to take Rin back to live at my castle." He said suddenly. "She will need a human there to interact with." His voice betrayed nothing, but she knew that he was offering her a chance for freedom from what haunted her. Kagome needed only a second to think it over.

"When will we leave?" She asked with bright smile.

**So what do you think? This is my first fanfic and I don't know whether I should add chapters or leave it as a one-shot. Depending on how I see this with some sleep (it's almost 4 in the morning I just had this nagging sensation that I had to write this thing down) I'll decide if I'm either going to add to it or leave it alone. Um… I guess now is when I ask you to read and review… If I decide to write more on here I'll let you know now that I won't try to fill a quota of reviews before uploading a chapter, but constructive criticism would be highly appreciated! I want to put my best stuff out there, and thank you for reading what I wrote!**


	2. Catching Up

**First things first: I do not own/make profit from Inuyasha. I am but a fan, so please do not sue me! **

**Secondly: After a few hours of sleep I decided to continue **_**Her Chance! **_

**Thirdly: Thank you to clar1235, Fairy Demon26, Lone-Wolf761, Sparky-kun, shadow zombie, Kagome4556, BVBlover4ever, ookamikagemiko, Gabbyness, and Lolita-chi for letting me know that they want to read more!**

**kkute: I'm glad it interests you! I don't know if I'll be able to update on a regular basis, but I'll try to keep your interest! **

**crazyone256: I never really have been able to resist puppy dog eyes, and if I let myself I could probably do more than three or four chapters **

**BVBlover4ever: I'm glad that you think so! **

**P: I felt like I went out of character a bit with Sesshomaru, but did you think anyone else was out of character? I'll try harder to keep them in line this time!**

**gabrielle dashwood: thank you!**

**Lastly: Due to the sporadic nature of my updates, I shall try to keep chapters 1000 words or more so that those who read **_**HC**_** don't feel like they've been shortchanged(I'm not trying to say that drabbles or stories with chapters less than 1000 words shortchange their readers, in fact many of my favorite stories have short chapters! But I personally feel that I, as an author, cannot fully get my point across, I just don't really have the skill).**

**Thanks again for all the positive feedback!**

**Okay! On to the story!**

He walked with a gracefulness that Kagome knew she would never be able to replicate, no matter how hard she may try. So she settled for trudging along the path that had been worn into the ground between the Bone-Eater's Well and Kaede's village. Kagome had to keep an eye on the distance between herself and Sesshomaru; too close and she could be seen as disrespecting, too far she would be thought weak and unable to make the journey to his castle.

They walked in a somewhat companionable silence, but Kagome had some questions she wanted to ask.

"So, Sesshomaru-sama, what has happened in the three years I've been gone?" Kagome waited for an answer, but received none. "Hello! Sesshomaru-sama?" Kagome raised her voice a bit, "Sesshomaru!" He whirled on her in an instant, surprising her somewhat. Within the time span of startled gasp she was held up against the nearest tree by his claws around her neck.

"You, miko, will _always _use the correct title when referring to or about this Sesshomaru." He stated, as if he were merely playing a game of chess rather than holding a grown woman by her neck several feet in the air. With that said he released her and continued down toward the village while she picked herself up off the ground, coughing and gasping.

"Stuck up prick." Kagome mumbled to herself between heaving breaths. He did not stop walking and she was sure she was unheard. She quickly dusted herself off and continued, thoughts of her second family spurring her forward.

"Kagome!" A child's voice rang out across the village, the sun was beginning to set and all Kagome saw was an orange blur approaching at a rapid rate.

"Shippo!" Kagome caught the bundle in her arms, but the force of his enthusiasm knocked the both of them down. Her adoptive son's bright green eyes peeked out at her from underneath his tousled red hair. "Shippo, I've missed you so much!" She hugged him close when she saw him start to cry.

"Kagome! Why didn't you come back?" He sobbed into her shirt, but Kagome didn't care, she only held the little fox demon tighter. "We all missed you. I missed you most, though! More than Inuyasha!" Shippo involuntarily ducked, waiting for the knock on the head that years of travelling with Inuyasha had taught him to expect. When no such thing arrived, he sniffed around. "Kagome? Where's Inuyasha? I thought he was waiting for you by the well. You still have his scent on you, but not much. Where'd he go?" He quickly recoiled at the sudden lifelessness of his surrogate mother's eyes.

"Oh, he left to try and revive Kikyo." She said, deadpan. "I took his subjugation beads off and he left." She didn't mention that he had told her he loved her, but still felt a duty to Kikyo. She didn't mention that he had _dared _to look her in the eyes as she emerged from the well. She didn't mention that her heart was ripped apart by gashes that had grown in size and number as the years had progressed. She didn't mention that she felt empty. She didn't mention that she was no longer angry. She didn't mention her fleeting thought of leaving the living world behind.

She picked herself up, keeping Shippo curled in one arm as she saw two more familiar faces approach.

"Sango. Miroku. I am glad to see that you are safe." Kagome sounded possessed, uncaring, unfeeling. She gave them a bright smile that didn't match the lack of warmth in her brown eyes. Miroku and Shippo shrank away from her expression, they'd seen it many times before. Sango seemed to ready herself for some serious girl-talk. "I can't stay." Kagome started suddenly. "I agreed to accompany Rin back to Sesshomaru-sama's castle in the West. I will stay for as long as Rin will have me for a companion. Or until Sesshomaru-sama kills me for sport." Her friends were shocked speechless.

"B-But Kagome—"

"No, it is fine," the time traveling priestess smoothly interrupted her dearest friend, "I want to go, please let Inuyasha know that I wish him the best with Kikyo." _The best seat Hell can supply once Kikyo drags him down with her! _

"Kagome, wait." Sango desperately wanted to know what had brought her friend to such desperation as to run away with _Sesshomaru _of all people. "Can't you please stay? Your eyes are scaring me." She had begun to see packed earth, unmoving and contained, from the orbs that once held freedom and veracity. "I want to help." Her own brown eyes pleaded silently with Kagome's to tell her what was wrong, but to no avail.

Kagome studied the woman who had become her dearest friend and confidant over the many years. Her brown hair was pulled back into a low ponytail just like always, and she still wore the pink eyeshadow that set off her eyes, but she looked wiser somehow. Kagome knew that Sango would be able to talk her through Inuyasha's rejection, but for the moment the younger girl just wanted to wallow. "Did you two ever get married?" Kagome asked.

Miroku answered, "Why yes, we did. And we have three beautiful children. They may even surpass my dear Sango's beauty." Miroku sighed and began, with a smile, to rub Sango's backside. "But then again they may not." Sango's previous blush quickly faded, a small vein appeared on her forehead, and all she had to say was, "Floor."

Miroku quickly removed his hand and wrapped his arm around Sango's shoulder. "Just a speck of dust dear, just some dust." Kagome's eyes, which had regained some life watching her friends, held some curiosity. Sango decided to explain. "Anytime he does that in public, I make him sleep on the floor for a few days. His public groping has almost completely stopped," she said with a smile. Kagome noticed that he was only made to sleep on the floor for _public _groping. She couldn't help herself, she giggled. Sango took it as a good sign and asked, "Would you like to come meet your nieces and nephew?"

Kagome was unsure, "I have to meet Rin so that I can go back with her and Sesshomaru-sama…" She trailed off; she really wanted to meet the newest additions to her family. Shippo, who had been quiet for the longest amount of time Kagome could remember, spoke up. "Well Rin usually watches them, so you'll probably meet them anyways!" Kagome sparkled. "Could I really?"

"Why of course," Miroku smiled, pride for his children evident in his violet eyes. "But only since Sango will bear me more children so you will have a reason to come back." Sango removed his arm from her shoulder, much to his disappointment, and moved to take Kagome's arm. But Kagome noted that her friend did not deny it. _I'll have to be sure to visit when I can. _She thought to herself. As they walked to the couple's dwelling, she tried thinking of ways that she could see everyone _but _Inuyasha and Kikyo when she was visiting. Together the four friends walked up path to the simple hut.

They were met by screams coming from within.

**Okay! Second chapter down, what do you think? Please R&R, and don't forget I highly value criticism! Thanks for reading!**


	3. New Faces

**So I was going to try and update every day before I go back to school, but then my parents took my computer away. (They're not home right now so I decided I'd take the chance and write you guys another chapter.) So, it may be awhile before I'm able to update again. But I'll write chapters out on notebook paper and then type them up and post them during times like this when my parents aren't home. But for the sake of convenience, let's all hope that they retract my punishment soon! Enough about me, let's get to what everyone really wants to read, the story!**

The four friends froze at the sound of the furious, childlike screams that welcomed them at the entrance to Sango and Miroku's hut. But the tension quickly dissipated when the screams were accompanied by peals of laughter. As soon as Kagome remembered to breathe she followed her older companions inside. The four were greeted by the sight of Rin standing off to the side of the room holding a baby boy that couldn't be older than a few months. His black hair was shaking as a result of the laughter that racked Rin's tiny twelve-year-old frame. Sesshomaru stood in the center of the room, with eyes closed in what all present assumed was mild frustration, while the tiny fists of two twin girls, who couldn't be older than two, pounded at his legs and feet.

"No!" The two girls yelled simultaneously, they then continued their protests and after a few moments everyone had gathered the gist of their young fury. The twins were adamant that "Fluffy" would not take "Auntie Rin" away. The demon lord opened his eyes when he heard Kagome join in with Rin's laughter. His golden eyes zeroed in on her as he scooped up the girls and deposited them, kicking and screaming, into the open arms of their father. "No! We don't want Fluffy to take Auntie Rin away!" The one with her mother's brown eyes yelled. The both of them had tears running down bright red cheeks, and Kagome felt a bit sad on the girl's behalf. The other, sporting her father's violet eyes, glared indignantly at Sesshomaru, who had still not broken his gaze from Kagome's laughing figure.

"You will stop laughing at this Sesshomaru. Immediately." His voice was just as even as when he held her against the tree by her neck. Kagome slowed her laughter, but was unable to stop a few snickers from escaping.

I-I'm sorry! I-I'll st-stop." She became serious, but the mirth in her eyes was evident. "See, no laughing." Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, but made no move to show that he believed his command unfulfilled. He then turned to Miroku, who was still holding his two struggling girls, "Control your offspring, monk."

"Yes Sesshomaru-sama." He replied, smiling. Miroku then knelt down and placed the girls on their feet, keeping them in place with a hand on each of their shoulders. "Maya," he began to the brown-eyed one, "Sumi," he said, turning to her sister, "the both of you need to let Auntie Rin go with Fluf—" his eyes flicked to Sesshomaru and back, "Sesshomaru-sama. I'm sure that she will be back to visit you very soon." Their black-brown hair bobbed as they simultaneously nodded. Once they had wiped their faces with their kimono sleeves they walked over to Rin.

"We're sorry we were mean to Fluffy." Maya said quietly while looking up at Rin. She elbowed her sister when a few moments of silence passed; Sumi reluctantly looked up from the floor.

"Yes, we're really sorry." The apology, however insincere, was accepted by Rin who gave them each a hug after handing the young boy to his mother. She smiled sweetly at the young girls.

"Maya, Sumi, I'll come back and visit both of you very soon." She ruffled their hair. Maya became concerned.

"What about Kabe? Will you visit Kabe too?"

"Yes, I'll visit Kabe too, Maya." This contented the young girl and she gave Rin a fierce hug. Maya then ran over to her mother who had sat down with the young boy in her lap. Looking into the young boy's face she said excitedly, "Kabe! Rin will come back and visit, okay!" The small boy gurgled happily.

Throughout this entire episode, Kagome had stood off to the side watching, but she couldn't hold herself back any longer. She walked over to Sango with her arms out, "Could I hold him, please?" Sango nodded her permission and handed the small bundler over. Kagome held the young boy gently, cradling him in her arm while brushing his hair out of his brown eyes with her free hand. She cooed soothingly at Kabe, unable to keep herself from smiling at his small giggle. When he grasped her finger in his tiny hand, her heart swelled with love for the boy she would affectionately call "nephew." Maya and Sumi turned to look at their father.

"Daddy, who is that?" Sumi asked.

"Well dear, that is Auntie Kagome." He replied.

"Auntie Kagome? The lady you and mommy tell us about so much?"

"Yes," Sango interjected. "So you and your sister need to be very nice to Auntie Kagome, because in the morning she will be leaving with Sesshomaru-sama as well."

"Aw! We don't want her to leave yet!" The girls chorused. Kagome looked up from Kabe and smiled at the two girls. _They're so sweet, _she thought to herself. _Well, when they're not fighting for something, that is. _She handed Kabe back to Sango and pulled the two girls into tight hug. "Let's play!" Sumi said.

So play they did, until dark when Maya and Sumi began to grow tired. They rubbed their eyes sleepily, and yawned, but stubbornly refused to go to bed. They only agreed when bribed with a bedtime story from their new favorite aunt. Kagome tucked the both of them in, and began to tell them the story of a beautiful girl who was locked away by a frightening beast. The beast was actually a prince under a spell, and after spending time together, they fell in love. Their love broke the spell that had been placed upon the prince. "And they lived happily ever after." Kagome finished softly. She tiptoed out of the room and sat down near Sesshomaru near the fire. "They're asleep," she murmured to Sango, who thanked her. Kagome turned to Sesshomaru. "So, when are we leaving in the morning?" He remained silent. "Sesshomaru-sama? Hello?" She leaned over and waved her hand in front of his stoic face. "Ses-sho-ma-ru-sa-ma?" His clawed hand caught her wrist and he turned his head slightly to stare her down. For a few moments they only looked at each other. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart began to race. Only one thought crossed her mind before her senses turned to mush: _His eyes are really beautiful…_

She didn't know how long they stayed there like that, connecting brown to gold. But when she noticed his mouth moving, she decided she should probably pay attention.

"—when we shall leave, miko."

"Excuse me?"

"Are you hard of hearing, miko? Make it a duty to remember that this Sesshomaru does not like repeating himself. First light is when we shall leave." He waited for her to acknowledge that she understood.

"Y-Yes, Sesshomaru-sama." He held her gaze for a few more moments before releasing her and looking back to the fire. Kagome began to blush furiously while she tried to slow her racing heart. Not succeeding, she jumped up. "Well, I'm off to sleep! Goodnight, everyone!" She turned to the demon lord, wanting him to look at her again but also praying that he ignored her. "Goodnight, Sesshomaru-sama."

"Hn."

~~~~~~~~~~The next morning~~~~~~~~~~

She woke early, before the sun began to rise. She had a feeling that if she overslept, she would be left behind and she wanted to bathe before they set out. She gathered her things and walked out to a secluded part of the river she frequented during their travels. After stripping and folding her clothes in a neat pile, she waded into the waist-high water. The water was cold—Kagome didn't have time to walk all the way to the closest hot spring—so she washed quickly. After drying off and dressing Kagome brushed her hair while walking back to the hut. By the time she arrived Sesshomaru was waiting outside.

"Where is Rin?" She asked, placing her hair brush back in the yellow backpack that had been a part of her travels three years ago. She didn't receive an answer from Lord Stick-up-his-Ass, but soon Rin walked out of the hut with her own parcel of belongings. Since they had said their farewells the night before, Sesshomaru began walking out of the village without a word. Rin and Kagome followed behind, side by side. Kagome soon asked the smaller girl if she wanted to put her things in the backpack.

"Yes, please!" Rin heartily replied. With her arms free, the young girl was able to run from side to side of the path, picking flowers as they went. She soon had a good sized bundle and held them up to Sesshomaru. "Here you go, Sesshomaru-sama!" Her brown eyes were full of excitement to be able to give something to the man who she thought of as a father. "Since Sesshomaru-sama always gives Rin pretty things, Rin wants to give something pretty to Sesshomaru-sama!" She continued to hold the bouquet of wildflowers above her head.

"Rin. This Sesshomaru has no need of such things." Rin lowered the flowers, crestfallen. "However," he continued. "The miko may appreciate such a gift." Rin nodded furiously and ran back to hold them up to Kagome, who took them from her gratefully.

"Why thank you Rin, and thank you as well, Sesshomaru-sama, for thinking of me."

"Hn."

A hopeful thought passed through her mind. _Maybe, just maybe, we could become friends. _The thought made her smile.

**Third chapter down! I hope I still have some of your interests! Once again, I'm just a fan, I don't own Inuyasha or Beauty and the Beast, so please please please don't sue me! Please review, and thanks again for reading!**

**(P.S. I did say in an earlier note that I would not hold chapters hostage for reviews, but that won't stop me from asking for them! It makes me smile to think that someone took the time to stop and write me a review, so thank you to all of you who have!)**


	4. Flower Chains and Cooking Pots

**I'm sick and everyone else went to a hockey game so here's another chapter! **

**kagomes pup: Why Sesshomaru allows himself to be called fluffy will be explained soon, and we will see Koga in a later chapter. He has a place in the story, though I don't exactly know where yet…**

**And to anybody wondering, the first chapter was not the last of Inuyasha, we shall **_**DEFINITELY **_**be seeing him again! **

**I don't use a beta, I try to go off of my own skill as much as possible. I also do not own Inuyasha so please don't sue me I'm just a fan! But, now that I think about it, I'd really only get sued if someone started paying me for this story, and it's not that good. So from now on it will just be:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.**

**ShakespearesAlexa out!**

Traveling with Sesshomaru was _nothing _like traveling with Inuyasha, something Kagome was immensely grateful for. The little group consisting of Sesshomaru, Rin, and herself didn't rush, choosing to walk at a more leisurely pace, and they never had to retrace their steps. The comfortable pace also enabled them to walk longer without tiring out; cutting down on the number of breaks they had to take. The group entered a dense forest and it was about midday when Sesshomaru finally spoke again. They were in a small clearing no more than about forty or fifty feet across, a small stream could be seen cutting through off to the side, and the path continued roughly through the middle, flanked on either side by hundreds of wildflowers.

"We shall take a short rest here; do what you must before we continue." He then walked off the path and disappeared amongst the trees. Rin gasped with happiness and ran out into the flowers, picking the prettiest ones she could find. Once she had a decent bundle she hauled them back to the path, where she sat down upon a blanket Kagome had set out and began to weave the many flowers into bracelets, crowns, necklaces, and rings. Quickly, Kagome refilled her water bottles and began to prepare some lunch. She soon had ramen cooking, and Rin sniffed delicately at the delicious smell.

"What's that?" The tiny girl asked as she set aside a ridiculously long daisy chain.

"It's lunch," Kagome replied, smiling. "Where I come from, we eat this all the time. But I can't go home anymore so we have to treasure it while it lasts." She became a bit sad and stared at the ramen while she stirred it, losing herself in memories of eating with her family five-hundred years in the future. Rin, sensing that the older girl was upset, crawled over to her and patted her shoulder reassuringly. Kagome snapped back to reality, "Oh! Sorry, Rin. I just lost myself for a moment there." She checked the ramen and smiled. "It's done!" Rin beamed as Kagome spooned out the unfamiliar treat into bowls. "Now be careful Rin, it's still very hot." The small girl nodded and blew on the noodles before taking a small bite.

"This is delicious!" She said. "If only Sesshomaru-sama would try human food. I'm sure he would like this."

"This Sesshomaru-sama would not be so sure." The deep voice made Kagome jump, but Rin—who was used to him popping up out of nowhere—simply continued to eat. "This is food from the future, miko?"

Kagome could tell he was curious about it, "Yes, Sesshomaru-sama. Would you like to try some? You don't have to."

"This Sesshomaru does not eat human foods." Kagome shrugged and went back to eating. Sesshomaru sat down, eyes shifting between the items that she had laid out. He seemed most interested in the stand that held her pot, it was a camping stand, and could heat up the pot without the use of firewood. She knew that if she began to explain to him what it was he would ignore her, so she turned to Rin.

"Rin, would you like to know what this is?" Kagome gestured to the cooking stand.

"Yes, please Kagome!" Normally a child so much younger would not be so familiar with her elder, but Kagome had asked the young girl to remove any honorifics from her name since they were going to be great friends. Kagome then told her about how the cooking stand worked, making sure that while she was pointing to specific parts Sesshomaru could see as well. After they were done eating Kagome cleaned everything up and returned it to her backpack. Sesshomaru stood up and the three continued on their journey.

A few hours later a shrill voice was heard coming their way on the path. "Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama!" The voice belonged to none other than Jaken, the toad demon that was unfailingly loyal to the Inu lord. He panted as he approached, leading Ah-Un as fast as he could. Ah-Un picked up the pace when he saw Rin, and began to drag the green toad along.

"Ah-Un!" Rin yelled excitedly. She ran ahead and hugged each one of the dragon's two heads. She gave each head a flower necklace and crown, and then wound the long daisy chain around his reins. The spare flowers that had not been woven into anything were stuffed into any open spaces on his saddle. One head sniffed at the flowers while the other nuzzled Rin affectionately. Anyone could see that the two-headed dragon was especially happy to see the little girl.

Meanwhile, Jaken was bowing to Sesshomaru, apologizing for his delayed return and asking for any orders. Then the toad looked up and saw Kagome.

"Sess-Sesshomaru-sama! What is Inuyasha's human wench doing here?" He wasn't answered, and all Kagome could focus on was his use of the _w word. _He walked over and glared up at her. Kagome thought to herself: _if he calls me that one more time I'll—_

"Hey! Get out of Sesshomaru-sama's sight, wench! You are not worthy enou—"

"That's it!" Kagome yelled. She pulled her foot back and with one swift kick sent the toad flying down the path where he landed in a puff of dust. "If you want a repeat of that, just _try _and call me a wench again!" She huffed and straightened her skirt, then looked up to see four pairs of eyes staring at her. Rin began giggling.

Kagome blushed scarlet at the show she must have put on and bowed low to Sesshomaru. "Please forgive me, Sesshomaru-sama."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You _should_ be apologetic, miko, for kicking this Sesshomaru's servant."

"Oh no, I'm not sorry I kicked him Sesshomaru-sama." She stood back up to full height. "I'm sorry that I did not ask permission before doing so. I shall be sure to remember that from now on." She walked past him, the still giggling Rin, and Ah-Un towards Jaken, who had still not stood up. She crouched down to tell him that she did not appreciate being called a wench, and that as a travelling guest of Sesshomaru-sama's and companion of Rin's, she expected some form of respect from the small toad demon. He only grumbled into the dirt.

That night, as they settled down and made camp, Kagome was constantly bothered by Jaken's nonstop blabbering. Then she thought of an idea. Grabbing something from her bag she wandered over to where Sesshomaru was sitting and sat down next to him.

"Sesshomaru-sama." She whispered conspiratorially. His eyes flicked over to her, hearing the deviousness in her tone. "Do you ever get tired of listening to the toad talk?" He didn't speak, but when she looked at him, something in his eyes was saying, _Well, duh. _"Well I can fix our mutual problem." She smiled mischievously and whispered her plan to him. When she finished, he nodded infinitesimally and walked away. Kagome dusted herself off and went to find the toad.

**Ooooh! What's going to happen to Jaken? I would type it into this chapter, but my parents just sent a text saying they're in the neighborhood, so I have to erase the evidence! Please review, and thanks for reading! Also, sorry I'm not very good with chapter names, but you guys can live with it right? **


	5. Lost in the Dark

**So, I realized that I've been forgetful. And I'm sorry. **

**Thank you very much to Gabbyness, VampireAngel90, XxFluffyXAlienxX, Dunk234, .X, SHERLY SHELLY AND YES IM A GUY, kanamearamahagiL, kagomes pup, little princess of mercury, ayamekiba, and Blackvid for subscribing to me or my story in some way! Sorry that I didn't give you all recognition earlier! **

Kagome crept her way over to the toad demon, darkness infringing from all sides. The campfire gave off a little light, but without any moonlight to accompany it, the eeriness of the forest at night sent shivers down her spine. With her hands held behind her back and an inviting smile, Kagome Higurashi was the very picture of innocence.

"Hey, Jaken?" The small toad turned and eyed her warily. He didn't trust the cheeriness of her tone, and sensed that only ill luck was in store for him. Opting for silence he only stared at her, trying to keep the disgust he felt for her presence out of his eyes. She continued with her fake tone, "I found something that Sesshomaru-sama said was only fit to be worn by his most _trusted _servant. And I figured that you should have it." His eyes widened at the thought of having superiority in his master's eyes.

His high-pitched voice took on a haughty tone. "Well then give it here wen—" he gulped at the narrowing of her eyes, "Kagome-san." She pulled the item out from behind her back and held it up for the little demon to see. She was thankful for the almost total darkness, in case for some reason the toad recognized the subjugation beads from the instances the two groups had come face to face. She slipped the necklace over his oddly-shaped head and stood up again.

"How do you like it?"

"It is quite fitting for a superior servant, such as myself. Oh, I must thank Sesshomaru-sama! I will have to be sure and make my thanks very well known to Sesshomaru-sama! Rin! Look at this!"

Rin looked up from Kagome's sleeping bag where she had just laid down for the night, "Um, Jaken-sama? Aren't those the beads that made Inuyasha sit when Kagome told him to?"

The small toad's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "You aim to trick Jaken? Well listen here—"

"Silence."

All but Jaken heard the command from the trees. The small demon continued to yell at Kagome, unaware that no noise was coming from his mouth. It took a few moments, but he soon became aware of his inability to speak. He was incredulous, promising murder with his eyes. Kagome burst out laughing at his expression, doubling over and falling on her side as Sesshomaru reentered the small campsite. Rin looked at Kagome, who still lay writhing with laughter in the dirt.

"Kagome, did you make more beads for Jaken-sama?" Rin asked the hysterical woman. The otherwise innocent question plucked a chord in Kagome's heart, and she immediately stopped laughing. Sitting up quietly, she shook her head in the negative before dusting herself off and walking to the opposite end of the campsite. Rin watched her with questions in her young eyes, but she knew that Kagome probably didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment.

Kagome knew that such a harmless question shouldn't have affected her so, but the thought of Inuyasha's betrayal still knocked her breathless. She sat at the base of a tree as far away from the fire and everyone else as she could be. She curled in on herself, bringing her knees up to her chin and wrapping her arms around her legs in an attempt to keep from falling apart. Ever since he left she hadn't really _dealt _with her feelings, choosing instead to push them off to the side. They were easier to ignore that way. But tonight, the loneliness threatened to overwhelm her. She drew breath after ragged breath, willing herself to calm down. Unable to do so, she leaned against the rough bark of the tree and settled into a fitful sleep.

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump. _

_Her thumping heartbeat was an ever present sound in the darkness. She flung herself left and right looking for something… no… someone. A dark chuckle turned her head; she would know that voice anywhere._

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

"_Inuyasha!" She cried out into the abyss that spread in every direction. "Inuyasha, help me!" Her fingers grasped at arm's length for something, anything to hold on to. "Inuyasha!" She screamed out again. Desperate. "Help me, please!"_

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

_A hazy figure appeared from the emptiness, as it became clearer she recognized her first love. But her eyes connected with red instead of gold. He had been overtaken by his youkai blood, though when he spoke his controlled voice was his own. _

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

"_I've come back for your heart, Kagome." He sneered. "My beloved Kikyo needs a heart to be whole again."_

_Thump-thump. Thump-thump._

"_Yours should do nicely." She turned and ran away from him in terror as he rushed forward, claws extended, a feral growl ringing out as right as the sound of her heartbeat vanished._

"No!" Kagome's eyes shot open as she screamed. She was face down; apparently she had begun sleepwalking during her nightmare since she couldn't see the campfire. She felt a throbbing pain in her ankle; it felt like she had twisted it. The twenty-two-year-old woman began sobbing uncontrollably, anger fueling her tears more than anything. She was angry with Inuyasha for leaving her, but mainly angry with herself for letting her emotions get so out of hand that they felt the necessity to make their presence known through terrifying nightmares. Knowing that she couldn't stay in one place for very long, injured as she was, Kagome began to crawl, looking for a crevice of some kind to hide herself in.

After about twenty minutes of fumbling through the darkness she had earned herself multiple bumps on the head (from running into the trees she was unable to see), her favorite pajamas were nearly shredded from the thorn patch she had tumbled into, and most recently, a sharp rock sliced a gash into her palm that bled profusely. Tired and lacking the strength to move another muscle she collapsed into—curse her luck!—a mud puddle. Tears of exhaustion began to fall.

"Well, Kagome. This is what you get. You should have just jumped into the well when you had the chance. No one wants you here anyway."

"Rin would be upset to hear you say such a thing, miko." The baritone voice cut through the forest noises, shocking Kagome with its unexpected arrival. The young girl roughly wiped the salt water and caked mud from her cheeks before looking around, unsuccessfully, for the Inu lord. After a few moments she could feel his breath on her ear. "This Sesshomaru smelt the blood and came looking for you." The breathing near her ear faded, a few moments of silence passed. "Are you going to follow miko?"

Kagome huffed in frustration. "_No _I will _not _follow you, Sesshomaru-sama, for two reasons. One, I can't see two inches in front of my face; and two, I twisted my ankle so even in broad daylight I wouldn't be following anyone _anywhere." _She crossed her arms and grumbled something along the lines of "insufferable dog."

"This 'insufferable prick,' to combine two of your insults, wishes to know why you are away from the campsite, miko." She silently cursed, so he _had _heard when she called him that, huh. Not wanting to go into detail, she opted for the concise answer of "I had a nightmare."

"Hn." The feeling of a strong hand rubbing circles on her back made her jump.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Wh-What are you doing?"

"This motion seems to help Rin when she has nightmares." Kagome tried to imagine the stoic youkai rubbing a small human girl's back as a show of comfort. She couldn't see it. "Are you calm, miko?"

"What? Ye-yeah… sure." He removed his hand, but soon she felt herself picked up and cradled against Sesshomaru's chest armor. "Sesshomaru-sama!" Kagome blushed furiously in the pitch black, hoping desperately that the demon lord could not see. "Put me down!"

"This Sesshomaru cannot do that, miko. Leaving you behind would not be conducive to our journey." His voice was as even as ever and, if Kagome didn't deny it, somewhat soothing. She was exhausted after her tromp through the forest, and allowed herself to fall asleep in Sesshomaru's hold as they made their way back to the campsite.

**Well, there goes chapter five. Please review and thank you for reading! I'll update again as soon as I can.**


	6. The Night's Events

**I AM SO SORRY! I never meant to disappear for this long, but I you all know the parents/computer situation. I would have been able to update sooner, but my grandmother died and family comes before fanfiction (sorry). I'm going to try and make this an EXTRA LONG chapter to make up for my vanishing act. **

**My email isn't working so I can't thank people by name right now, but you know who you are and I'll give you a shout out next chapter!**

**ON TO THE STORY!**

The first few soft rays of sunlight filtered through the trees into the small camp. Warming her eyelids the rays woke Kagome gently from her deep and pleasant slumber. She stretched out, relishing in the warmth the sun offered as she extended one foot, popping her ankle as the stretched. After repeating the pleasurable process with the other leg she sat up and stretched her arms out over her head. Her left arm extended, her elbow was about to pop when her hand came in contact with something that was silky and soft. She hadn't yet opened her eyes and she wrapped her hand around a bit of it and gave a gentle tug.

"Hn. Miko, why are you pulling this Sesshomaru's hair?" Her eyes flew open at the regal voice, and she was eye to eye with Sesshomaru, much too close for comfort. Startled, she tried to wake up faster, become aware of her surroundings.

She was in Sesshomaru's lap. And she was tugging on his hair. And she had… slept there?

Refusing to register the thought for more than a second, Kagome's frazzled brain simply shut down. She stared straight in front of her, off to the Inu Lord's left, and simply sat there; thinking and seeing nothing in particular.

"Miko, are you fully awake now?" His face was as emotionless as ever, but his tone betrayed a hint of annoyance at the situation. With her mouth hanging slightly open, all Kagome could do was give him the tiniest nod of her head. "Hn."

He stood up smoothly, unceremoniously dumping her on her butt in the dirt as he did so. That was when she came out of her trance and her face flushed with anger. "Sesshomaru-sama! Why did you make me sleep in your lap! That was completely inappropriate!" She stood up, not bothering to dust herself off, and crossed her arms over her chest as she struck a pose that meant business as she leaned on her uninjured leg and jutted out her hip. "Just because you saved me, which I'm still thankful for despite your shenanigans, does not mean you have the right to take advantage of me like that. What do you have to say for yourself?" She strummed her fingers on her arm while she waited for a reply.

-Sesshomaru's Point of View-

The miko was waiting. For an apology this Sesshomaru would not give. However, she must be corrected of her false thinking.

"This Sesshomaru did not force you, miko. Rather, you forced yourself upon this Sesshomaru." She blushed an intriguing shade of scarlet before taking a deep breath. Her heartbeat was racing. Anger? Embarrassment? This Sesshomaru does not truly wish to know the reason.

"Wh-What are you talking about? You picked me up, I didn't ask for your help to get back to camp."

Inwardly sighing, Sesshomaru remembered the events that transpired the previous night.

_~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~_

_Though it was dark, he was able to see perfectly. When she had stood up and walked off, he let her be. When she was gone for longer than it should normally take a human to relieve themselves, he decided to stay alert just in case she became hurt or threatened. As annoying as the human was at times, his young ward, Rin, was very well suited to her and would be upset if the woman did not return. A few hours later he smelt the blood and woke Ah-Un, trusting the dragon to take care of any threats that came upon Rin while he was away, then went off in search of his ward's companion. _

_The miserable looking thing was collapsed in a mud puddle, her "pajamas"—the strange, inappropriate sleeping attire she wore—were torn in many places. The mud was covering the scent of her blood and tears, and he knew that if he had waited much longer, he may have not found her as quickly._

"_Well, Kagome. This is what you get. You should have just jumped into the well when you had the chance. No one wants you here anyway."_

_She thought that no one wanted her here? "Rin would be upset to hear you say such a thing, miko."_

_She quickly looked around up, surprise evident on her face. "This Sesshomaru smelt the blood and came looking for you." He knew not why he honored her unasked question with an answer, but she relaxed a bit, eyes still darting around in the dark. The faintest feeling of pity flickered in him, but quickly dissipated. He walked away, intending to lead her back to camp, but turned around when she refused to go with him. "Are you going to follow miko?" She made a noise of frustration before retorting rather saucily, "No I will _not_ follow you, Sesshomaru-sama, for two reasons. One, I can't see two inches in front of my face; and two, I twisted my ankle so even in broad daylight I wouldn't be following anyone _anywhere_." He noted a frown on her face as she complained about him being an "insufferable dog." _

_The verbal jab reminded him of the time she had called him a 'prick.'_

"_This 'insufferable prick,' to combine two of your insults, wishes to know why you are away from the campsite, miko." If he was truthful with himself—which, he _always _was—he would admit his curiosity as to why she had disappeared. After swearing, an action he believed inappropriate for females, he heard her hesitant reply._

"_I had a nightmare."_

"_Hn." So she was troubled by dreams? Rin was at times, and he had often had to comfort the girl, seeing as Jaken was unable to calm her. He moved to the mud she was still crouched in and began rubbing her back so that she would hopefully relax a bit. But instead of relaxing as he thought she would, she was startled._

"_Sesshomaru-sama! Wh-What are you doing?" _

"_This motion seems to help Rin when she has nightmares." He was going to have to carry her, that much was sure. She was injured, which normally he would ignore, but he did not wish to be slowed by her inadequate human eyesight. To him, the logic was undeniable. After some time he asked her, "Are you calm, miko?" _

"_What? Ye-yeah… sure." He scooped her up in his one arm, once again reminded of the first time he met the little miko. His anger flared at the thought of his half-brother, worse than ever. How dare that hanyou take his arm! And then to leave the miko alo—_

"_Sesshomaru-sama!" An exclamation he did not understand broke his train of thought, there was no danger nearby, why did she call for him so loudly? Her noticed her face was flushed and that her heart rate had increased. "Put me down!"_

"_This Sesshomaru cannot do that, miko. Leaving you behind would not be conducive to our journey." Thankfully she saw logic, and not long after he could tell that she had fallen asleep. When she slept her mouth hung slightly open, her breath tickled the hair that hid part of her face from view. She was rather light, for a human, and he thought about warning her to not let herself become unhealthy… for Rin's sake of course. He would not have bad health habits rubbing off on his ward. He took his time walking back to camp, for no particular reason. He simply felt like walking at a comfortable pace. _

_Once he arrived back at camp, he slightly opened her strange portable futon with his foot and attempted to slide her in without waking either the miko or Rin, but the older girl began to fidget. He decided to wait a moment, since her movements would wake up Rin, but she began whimpering, and her fidgets became frantic movements. Kicking legs attempted to carry their sleeping owner away from some unseen danger; grasping, clutching arms and hands held onto him for dear life. And then, amidst the whimpers and cries that were becoming more pronounced, four words._

"_Please don't leave me." _

_If he were human, his heart would have broken. But he wasn't. He sat down and leaned her against his shoulder, sitting up in his lap, so he could begin to rub her back again. She had not awoken, and once she calmed down, he attempted again to put her to sleep with Rin, but the same episode occurred. Annoyance tinted his thoughts, but a sense of curiosity entered his mind. _Why was this miko, _he asked himself, _so desperate for him to stay with her?

_Accepting the fact that any more attempts to remove her from his person would end with a cranky Rin, and likely a further injured miko, he sat down again and let the girl continue to sleep in his lap. Her fingers curled tightly around the top of his armor, a barrier of warmth between that small bit of plating and his chest; he noticed that her knuckles were turning white. Knowing that if he removed her hand she would unconsciously return it to the same place, he opted to reassure her of his presence. Speaking low so she would not awaken, he leaned close so she would still hear._

"_This Sesshomaru will not leave you."_

_Almost immediately her hold on his armor weakened and her brow unfurled. He silently scoffed at the dependent nature of humans and waited for dawn to come._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~End~~~~~~~~~~~~_

"You would not release _your _hold on _me, _miko, when this Sesshomaru attempted to lay you down to sleep with Rin." Did she not remember?

According to her expression, no.

-Normal Point of View-

_I wouldn't let go of him? _She honestly didn't remember a thing. _Oh well. What's passed is passed and can't be changed. _The fleeting thought threatened to again drown her with thoughts of Inuyasha and his actions, but she dammed the flood of memories. Adrenaline, that had been holding her up during her small fight with Sesshomaru, faded, and she could now feel the pain of her ankle. It began as a slow throbbing, before morphing into a constant thrum, and even further into a sharp pinpricking of pain. She crumpled to the ground and wrapped her hands around her ankle.

"Kagome? Are you okay?" Rin's groggy voice took only a fraction of her attention away from her ankle.

"Not really, Rin. Could you bring me the white box with the red cross on it from my backpack please?"

"Mm-hmm." Once retrieved, it was rummaged through by Kagome who was looking for some sort of pain reliever.

"This Sesshomaru wonders why you do not simply heal yourself, miko?" She looked up at him, dumbfounded.

"What makes you think I could heal myself?" She asked saucily.

"All mikos can." He said simply.

"How do you know?"

"This Sesshomaru has studied your kind. To find an enemy's weakness, one must know the enemy."

"So I'm an enemy now?" For once, the Inu lord did not have a reply. Feeling some pride that she had won—at least this round—she focused on freeing her miko powers and using them to heal her injured ankle. She tunneled down inside of herself. When she put her energy behind her arrows, the light came forth willingly, probably brought easier in the rush of battle. But now, her power was an amoeba at her center, ever-shifting and hard to grasp at. She fumbled with it, stretching it out only to have it recoil back from her clutch. Several minutes she stayed inside of herself like that, failing to get a solid hold on her power, before she finally had to reemerge, sweating and panting. She looked up at Sesshomaru desperately.

"Can you help me?"

He blinked at her.

**Okay guys! It's past midnight and I have school in a few hours, and I'm jealous of the sound of my dog peacefully snoring in his bed, so I decided to end it here. Please read and review, and thank you for reading what I wrote! Happy!... I don't know… HAPPY SOMETHING! Find something to be happy about today! **


	7. The Itsy Bitsy Spider

**Hey guys! So, now that my email is working again, I would like to give my thanks to One2Handcuff, Moriko no Kitsune Ryu, Spider Rider 14, Tigermage, NadineJoy, luckgirl13, Deceptichick09, Amai Youkaiko, and Trelweny Rosephoenixwolf! **

She sat there for a few minutes, before huffing and pouting up at the stoic youkai.

"You know, Sesshomaru-sama, if I can't heal myself this trip is going to take even longer than it was going to originally."

"You are threatening this Sesshomaru, miko." It was not a question, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Nevertheless, I cannot help. This is something you must do on your own."

She gave him her best "go die" glare but, honestly, who can actually out-glare the Lord of the Never-Ending Scowl? She sighed and tunneled back down into herself, wondering why she had even thought he would help in the first place. The amoeba of power was still there, but instead of just grabbing at it, she tried directing it. Working this way, she aimed the power towards her hurt ankle, and felt warmth there, overtaking the pain. When she opened her eyes, the swelling and redness was gone. Her ankle was as good as new!

"Kagome! You are okay!" Rin's cheerful voice caught her attention.

"Yes, Rin, I am!" She replied, just as cheerfully. "No thanks to Sesshomaru-sama." She shot him a baleful look.

"If this Sesshomaru did not think that you could heal yourself on your own, miko, he would not have given you the information." His deep, smooth voice turned her head once again, and she missed the barely hidden compliment completely, cutting straight to the thought that he was hiding information about her powers from her.

"Sesshomaru-sama, what else can I do?" She was too curious to be angry with him.

"This Sesshomaru does not believe you ready for such information as of yet." He turned around and began to walk away. "Come. We leave now." She looked around in surprise to see that the fire had been put out and cleared away, and that all of her things were neatly returned to her yellow backpack. _Well, _she thought, looking at her poorly wrapped sleeping bag, _almost all of them. But then again, it's hard enough for me to fold it up, poor Rin probably had the most difficult time. _

"Thank you, Rin, for putting my sleeping bag away." She smiled at the young girl as they took their normal places, side by side about ten feet back from Sesshomaru.

"Oh, that wasn't me." The young girl smiled brightly up at Kagome. "Sesshomaru-sama did it while you were healing yourself, Jaken-sama and I were too small." Kagome blinked her brown eyes in surprise. _How did he do that with only one arm? _She looked up ahead to where he walked, measured steps carrying him just fast enough that the group would reach their destination in a timely manner, but also just slow enough so that she and Rin did not tire too quickly. His silver hair swayed hypnotizingly in the slight breeze, and Rin had to call her name a few times to get her attention.

"Kagome!"

"Oh, yes?" Looking back down at the young girl, she noticed her to be slightly nervous about something. "Rin, is everything okay?"

"I am just wondering…" she paused a few moments, seeming to formulate her next few words. "Are you going to stay with me and Jaken-sama and Sesshomaru-sama?" She looked up to the older girl, worry shining in her brown eyes.

"As long as Sesshomaru-sama thinks that my presence is needed, yes. I will stay."

"Really?" The girl's hopeful face reminded Kagome of Shippo, her adopted son. She missed him, as well as Sango, Miroku, and her newest family, Maya, Sumi, and Kabe. Honestly, though she was still very upset at how things had turned out, she missed Inuyasha as well. _I wonder how his trip to revive Kikyo is going? _The thought that he may spend the rest of his life looking for a way to revive his first love made her heart clench. _Geez, I can't believe I feel sorry for him! He left me for _her! _Again! _Her impromptu anger faded as quickly as it rose. _But, I can't help but want what makes him happy. I truly hope he finds a way to bring her back, but hopefully without the use of my soul this time… Why am I so nice? _She let out a heaving sigh, causing Rin to glance up at her.

"Sighing makes happiness run away." The smiling girl said. She began to hum a nonsense song, and then added words. The song was about—who else?—Sesshomaru-sama. After she sang through it a few times, Kagome knew all the words and began to sing along.

_Sesshomaru-sama._

_He will always come for me._

_Sesshomaru-sama. _

_He saved me from the darkness._

_Sesshomaru-sama._

_Jaken-sama bothers him._

_Sesshomaru-sama._

_He is my best friend._

"Jaken does not bother the great Sesshomaru-sama!" The toad in question cried out defensively. "And you are but a lowly human, why would the great Sesshomaru-sama be _your _best friend? No one is worthy of that prai—"

"Silence, Jaken."

Once again the subjugation beads took effect, immediately silencing the loudmouth servant. Ah-Un could be heard snickering behind the girls, and Jaken resumed his place halfway between them and Sesshomaru-sama. His bald green head was practically sizzling. Kagome decided to have _a bit _of pity on the toad, and offered to teach Rin another song to sing.

"Yes! I would like that very much!" Kagome then taught her the words to _The Itsy Bitsy Spider_, and the hand motions her mother had taught her. In almost no time Rin had mastered it. Together they sang,

_The Itsy Bitsy Spider_

_Went up the water spout._

_Down came the rain_

_And washed the spider out._

_Out came the sun_

_And dried up all the rain._

_And the Itsy Bitsy Spider _

_Went up the spout again._

One they finished the song, Rin would yell "Again!" So the two girls would sing it again. And again. And again. An hour or two before sunset, Sesshomaru stopped and declared that they would set up camp. No longer in the forest, the Western Mountains were visible across the plains. Dinner was uneventful, the group eating some more of the food Kagome had brought back from the future. She knew that it would be best for them to eat it right away, since it would spoil eventually, and Rin made no objection so Sesshomaru allowed it. After everything was put away Rin curled up inside the sleeping bag while Kagome sighed in wonder at the colors of the sunset exploding from behind the mountains. Walking a ways away from the campsite, she found herself a somewhat comfortable place to sit and simply watched. Not long after Sesshomaru came to sit by her.

"The song you taught Rin was repetitive, miko, and had no educational value." His deep voice, so sure of himself, instantly riled her, but she fought down the rising anger, choosing instead to wait a few moments while she calmed herself. _Why does the very sound of his voice bring this reaction from me? He probably enjoys seeing me frustrated. _She glanced quickly over at his passive face. _I can't tell for sure, but he's most likely amused, at least. _

"I am afraid I must correct you, Sesshomaru-sama." She decided to try and speak the way he did, hopefully something would translate so he wouldn't underestimate her again. "First off, I would not teach Rin something that does not benefit her in some way. Secondly, the hand motions improve hand-eye coordination and reflexes. Thirdly, the meaning behind the song is to not give up even when you have been knocked down again and again." She folded her arms and resisted from adding, "So, there."

He turned to look at her, eyes narrowing a bit in curiosity. She merely cocked an eyebrow as he blinked his golden eyes at her. He turned away again.

"Very well, miko. This Sesshomaru sees the so-called "benefits" of your teachings."

She waited. When no more words came forth she coughed. Then she cleared her throat. "Ah-hem!" He blinked.

"Don't you have anything else to add?" She asked. "Like, say, an apology?"

"This Sesshomaru does not apologize."

She wasn't shocked really, but still, an apology would have been nice. "Ever?" He just turned and blinked at her again. "You know, you can say quite a few things with those blinks of yours." Another blink. "Awww, Sesshomaru-sama!" She cooed jokingly. "That's very sweet! I think that you are very interesting to talk to as well!" The look she received almost made her laugh. She could almost hear him, _Miko, where you dropped as a newborn? _"Well, that's enough riveting conversation for one day." She stood back up, and he did so as well. "Goodnight, Sesshomaru-sama." Taking her toiletries and extra pajamas she headed for the hot spring he had pointed out earlier.

Sesshomaru sat down against a tree, and waited for the miko's safe return. He thought back to the night before, when she had disappeared, and wondered if that would happen again. His thoughts traveled later into that night, and he began remembering how warm he was while she slept in his lap. He wondered at it, why such a simple memory haunted him so. Once the girl was back he let himself drift off to sleep.

That night he felt cold, and thought of her warmth.

**Thank you for reading chapter seven of Her Chance! By now, I feel like some reader input is required. So, if you have any criticisms of what I've written, or ideas for what I have yet to write, please let me know! But, just a note: Sesshomaru has been stoic, cold, unfeeling, for the past six or seven years. He's not going to completely change into a loveable fluff-puppy in two days. Sure, he changed a bit in the three years that she was gone, but he is keeping that side to himself for reasons that will be revealed at a later date! **

**So, how is it coming along so far? And what would you like to see? Please read and review, and thanks again for reading!**


	8. The Arrival of a Rival

**Welcome back! And thank you to MichiruAOZ, Darktemp, g2fan, foxy85, Bird That Flies At Dawn, and Lioness Of the fire! **

**kagomes pup: Kouga actually comes in this chapter, I know you've been looking forward to seeing him, I hope he doesn't disappoint!**

**crazyone256: I AM SO HAPPY YOU THINK THIS IS CUTE! **

**Lioness Of the fire: Oh jeez, I'm glad you think so! Honestly, I have this bad habit of writing every second of every day into my stories and not jumping ahead to when something happens, so if their days seem overstuffed it's because of that :D**

**You guys are going to meet Kouga this chapter, so get ready for a windstorm!**

That morning passed unlike the previous one. The members of the travelling party were silent, for the most part. Jaken mumbled a few times about something or other that had to be taken care of once they returned to the Lord of the West's castle, and threw in snide comments about how the servants would most likely take bets on how long Kagome would be able to last in said castle, but Kagome ignored him while she got ready for the day.

Together the group traveled on, and for a few hours she was content. Not exactly happy, she wasn't quite ready to be happy just yet, but she felt better than she had. She closed her eyes, tilting her head up so that she could revel in the feeling of the sun on her skin as she continued to walk behind Sesshomaru.

"Kagome!" Rin's tiny voice had a half-second to register before she ran smack into the back of a stationary Sesshomaru.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" She said, startled. "I'm sorry for running into you, but why did you stop in the middle of the road?" He was not looking at her, just staring at something she couldn't yet see. "What's going on?"

"A minor annoyance that needs to be taken care of." He replied smoothly. "Rin, miko, get on Ah-Un. This Sesshomaru does not wish for you to be in the way." Rin easily complied, but Kagome stood her ground.

"Get in the way of what?" He said nothing and slightly turned to face her when she refused to heed orders. "I'm staying here, I'm going to help."

"You will only be a hindrance, miko."

"I can stand up for myself, thank you very much!" She was now yelling and had assumed her "I'm-not-taking-your-crap" pose: arms crossed, hip jutted out, eyebrow quirked, brow creased. "And I want to know what's going on!" She was surprised by a sudden feeling of weightlessness, Sesshomaru had wrapped his arm around her middle and held her, dangling, against his side. She kicked and flailed her arms, to no avail. He set her on Ah-Un next to Rin.

"You have an unwanted visitor, miko." With that said, Ah-Un took to the sky. Kagome began searching the plains from her new perspective, searching for a flash of red. But instead of red, she saw brown. _Oh no, not now… _She sighed, slumping down to put her face in her hands. _Well, I don't want Sesshomaru to kill him, I should probably go down there._

"Rin, could you please ask Ah-Un to let me down, if I can get a chance to talk to Kouga, everything should by fine." The small girl nodded, and whispered to one of the dragon's heads, it also nodded, and decreased altitude to let Kagome back onto the ground. She held her hand up as a visor from the sun as she watched Ah-Un regain his previous height above the ground. She knew that the dragon wouldn't allow Rin to fall, but, better safe than sorry. Once she was certain the little girl she already loved was as safe as possible, she returned to Sesshomaru's side. "What are you planning on doing to him, Sesshomaru-sama?"

"Hn." _Well, at least he didn't ignore me. _

"Just let me talk to him, you don't have to fight." She made her tone a complacent one, trying to find a diplomatic solution.

His hand twitched toward his sword. "You cannot smell his intent, miko. This Sesshomaru can."

She was more than used to cryptic responses from the tall demon, but she was still confused. "What do you mean by that? His intent?"

"You shall find out soon enough, miko." _Oh dear. _

"Kagome!"

Before she could turn to look she was swept up into a tight hug and spun in circles that sent her head reeling. She was certain the world had turned into a lava lamp at that moment.

"Kagome!" If possible, Kouga crushed her into an even tighter hug, effectively cutting off her air supply completely.

"Um… Kouga…" Kagome struggled to speak. "I-I can't… breathe…" She was sure she had turned blue by now. He squeezed her tighter for a half second before dropping her completely. She looked up at him to see his confidant smile. He hadn't changed a bit, bright blue eyes sweeping her face from underneath an unruly set of bangs that just wouldn't stay behind his headband no matter how hard he try to keep them restrained. His black hair was tied in a high ponytail, and brown his tail swished happily back and forth. The wolf demon still believed he had a claim on her, it seemed. She would have to set it straight once and for all that she did _not _like him _that way. _"Now, Kouga, about me being 'your woman,' I'm-"

"Finally back!" He interrupted. "And now you are mine! Come on, let's go home!" Giving her no time to respond, he picked her up bridal style and started running. He only made a few steps before Kagome felt herself dropped suddenly. "Shit!" The wolf demon helped her up, and then inspected a long, bubbling gash wound on his right arm. He turned to glare at Sesshomaru. "What the hell was that for?"

-Sesshomaru POV-

_Mine. _

Possessiveness flooded him at that moment. Instinctually he sent his poison whip flying, wounding the misguided demon on the arm. Tensing when the wolf _dared _to touch her again—despite the contact coming from having to help her regain her footing—Sesshomaru had to restrain himself from slicing the lower-level demon apart then and there.

He strode forward towards the wolf, who now had a defiant look in his eye. The child did not know where he stood. He would enjoy teaching him his place. However, one thought was prevalent above the others, _Mine._

_Mine._

_MINE._

**So, what do you guys think of Kouga's entrance? And Sesshy's reaction? :D I am super excited for the next chapter! Now all I have to do is write it…. Well, until next time! Please review, and THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING! **


	9. Canine Vs Wolf

**Welcome back! Sorry I kind of left you guys in the middle of a semi-intense scene there, but sometimes cliffies are a necessity! Thanks to Angel From Hell96, Nyxx96, luckgirl13, crazyone256, SymmetricalGirl8DeathTheKid, YaoiCrazedFangirl, Inuyashagirl117, sakemori, Springflowerangel, DarkAngel727, and Seraph Soulmate!**

**Trelweny Rosephoenixwolf: I don't like it when people kill off Kouga either, he may end up happy with someone else though… But no fear! He shall stay alive! And thanks for reminding me about Kouga's instincts! Without that I most likely would have had to have this chapter go differently.**

**luckgirl113: sorry, but there's more Kouga here, and he may come back in later on, but I want to resolve his issues in this chapter. **

**Bird That Flies At Dawn: When I read your comment I pictured Emma Stone from Easy A when she's walking down the hallway going "OOOOOOO BURN." Made me laugh :D**

**crazyone256: I'm afraid the love rival will not be so for long, and I always accept ideas! **

**SymmetricalGirl8DeathTheKid: here is your outcome! Enjoy!**

**sakemori: Thank you! I will definitely continue! (Honestly I don't think I would be able to stop, even if I wanted to) And GOOD! I was worried that I had them all **_**completely **_**out of character, but I'm glad it doesn't seem so. **

**I think that's everyone, if I missed you, I'm sorry! Let me know and I'll include you next chapter. I also realized that people REALLY like a possessive Sesshomaru, I just imagine him being all cute and huffy when Kouga is sidling up to Kagome. ^o^ If I had any sort of drawing skills I would be ALL OVER a sketchbook right now! I'm kind of hyper right now, so sorry if I'm rambling a bit.**

*****WARNING!*** FOUL LANGUAGE IN THIS CHAPTER! (Kouga just wouldn't be complete without a bit of a potty mouth) Also, I do not own Inuyasha. **

**Now! On! To….. whatever this is that we're going on to. **

_Thank Kami he put me down! But why would Sesshomaru do that? I feel bad for Kouga though, his arm must hurt now… But he needs to learn that I am NOT 'his woman' and he can't just carry me off any time he feels like it! Maybe I should heal him… But what if it purifies him? Oh, geez! _Kagome was pulled out of her thoughts just in time to see Kouga making his way to Sesshomaru, who actually looked a little…pissed.

"What the hell was that for?" Kouga yelled at the demon standing almost two heads taller than him. He stopped a few feet away from his target and turned to gaze incredulously at Kagome as he hooked a thumb over his shoulder to point at Sesshomaru. "And why the hell are you with this guy?"

"Mine." Sesshomaru's unusually tense voice brought Kouga's eyes back to him. "The miko is mine, wolf, and will remain in this Sesshomaru's possession until further notice." Kagome was somewhat startled by another claim on her, but rationalized that he viewed her as an employee. Of course he would want to keep his babysitter/nanny/teacher around. For Rin's sake.

"Screw that, jackass! I bet she doesn't even want to be here!" Kouga stalked slowly towards the Inu lord, who was becoming increasingly angry with every step taken in the direction of his person. "I bet," he continued, as did his feet, "that you're keeping her around for the same reason that your shit-faced brother did." Now Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed, and all intensity was gone from his person. The anger seemed to just melt off his body instantaneously. Kouga took it as a sign that he was correct. Kagome, however, realized the danger of the situation. Feeling bold he raised his hand to point at Sesshomaru, "You want to keep her," he made a motion to poke the demon lord in the chest, "for yourse—"

His finger never made contact. Sesshomaru quickly sliced his arm upward, aiming to rip through the wolf's body, but Kouga had sensed danger at the last instant and wheeled out of the way. His claws glowed green with his body's natural poison, and Kagome became worried for her friend.

"Hit a sore spot, huh?" Kouga sneered at Sesshomaru, who remained standing in the same place. Circling around the demon whose eyes never left his, the overconfident wolf made his way back over to Kagome. "He's just using you, leave him." He whispered to her, knowing the other demon could hear. He grabbed her wrist but was burned by a tiny jolt of purifying energy. He waved his injured hand around waiting for the pain to disappear. "What the hell? Ganging up on me?" His face was angry, but she could sense the hurt underneath.

She sighed deeply. "No, Kouga. But you just don't listen!" His look became one of confusion. She spelled her words out in the air with her finger as she tried to emphasize to him, once and for all, how she felt. "I. Am. Not. Your. Woman." She crossed her arms, her anger evident on her face. "I am _not_ your woman. I have never _been_ your woman. And I will never _be_ your woman!" She glared up at him, but softened her expression when she saw the heartbreak on his face.

"Maybe if you come with me… you could—" He began stubbornly, but Kagome interrupted him with a reassuring hand to the arm.

"No, Kouga. Look, I'm sorry that I let you believe all those years that you had a chance, but honestly, I was just selfishly using you. When you came around calling me 'your woman,' Inuyasha would get so protective of me, and I didn't want to risk losing that. I'm truly sorry, but I don't have the same feelings for you that you do for me. Please, _please _understand that." She pushed the memories of Inuyasha away for later, she had to stay focused on apologizing to Kouga. Pleading with her eyes for him to give up on her, she bore her gaze into his blue orbs. "I understand if you never forgive me, but I want you to be happy with someone who can return your feelings. Like Ayame. You promised her that you would marry her, and the two of you make an excellent match, so keep your promise to her, okay?"

She waited there, with her hand on his arm, while he hung his head and stared at her feet. His bangs hid his face, so she didn't see his eyes redden, or the malicious sneer now curling his lip. Kouga's body began shaking, and then everything changed.

All it took was one second. Time slowed down so she could take everything in; she was thrown back as Kouga's body expanded. She was caught by Sesshomaru, who moved too fast for her to see, even in this exaggerated frame of mind, as fur grew out of every pore of the wolf demon's skin. When time finally sped back up, she was a couple hundred feet away from an enormous brown wolf, with black-tipped ears, and Sesshomaru stood with his back to her, between them. A fierce snarl ripped out of Kouga's muzzle, sending vibrations of fear through her body.

"Stay back." Sesshomaru's calm voice pulled her attention away from the furious youkai. He had turned his head slightly to catch her eye. She nodded silently. He drew his sword and took a defensive stance. _What's he doing? _She thought to herself. _Sesshomaru _always _attacks, why is he defending? _Kouga chose that moment to charge at them, and his voice echoed inside the minds of all present, including Rin and Jaken, both of whom were on Ah-Un at the moment.

_**You. Will. Be. MINE! **_Kagome heard Rin squeal in terror at the determined malice that saturated Kouga's thoughts. _**No one else can have you! Mine! MINE! **_The giant wolf, likely the size of a decent-sized hotel, charged at them head on, but swerved at the final possible moment out of the way of Sesshomaru's blade. Kagome could only watch, as her bow and arrows were in her bag, which was on Ah-Un. The dance continued, Kouga charging and wheeling away, Sesshomaru lithely stepping in a tight circle around Kagome as the wolf came from all sides, until a swipe of Kouga's massive tail hit Kagome and sent her sliding into the hard ground. She came to a stop about fifty feet away, covered in dirt, scratches, bits of grass, and blood. Sesshomaru leapt backwards to land beside the, now unconscious, miko.

_This Sesshomaru cannot protect the miko in this form. _He smelt the rage and lust rolling off the wolf in waves. _Does this child even know that an aura can be hidden? _He allowed a sense of superiority to seep out of his well-contained aura. Sheathing his sword, he let his demon take over. In less time than it took Kouga to transform, Kagome was shielded by a majestic, white, fluffy, airplane-sized, _pissed off, _canine. Even missing his arm, Sesshomaru was a force to be reckoned with, and poisonous drool hung out of the side of his mouth, burning patches into the areas of the plain it fell on. The dog growled, a low rumbling deep in his throat, a warning.

Then he lunged. The two of them rolled on the ground, snapping at each other's throats and clawing any available flesh. Kouga was unable to gain any ground on Sesshomaru, who drove the wolf farther and farther away from the unconscious Kagome. As a last-ditch effort, Kouga attempted to vault over Sesshomaru, but the pristine demon caught him in his teeth by the scruff of his neck, letting his poison slowly burn at the wolf's back. Kouga twisted and his paws sought purchase on the ground, but to no avail. By now Kagome had woken up and seen what was happening.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" She cried out. Her voice, filled with worry, pulled the enormous dog out of his bloodthirsty thoughts. "Please! Let him go! He won't bother me anymore, just please let him go!" Though he remain in his dog form, his eyes reverted back to hard gold, and he glared at her in anger from being denied his kill. _But the miko will be upset if this Sesshomaru kills the wolf, she may not agree to teach Rin. _Sesshomaru growled again in frustration and flung Kouga to the side like chew toy that didn't squeak any more. He padded over to the small miko who sat shaking on the ground. She would not look at him, so he bumped her with his large nose.

"Thank you." The sentiment was spoken by her so softly, that had he been a lesser demon, he would not have heard. He returned to his more inconspicuous form.

"Hn."

Kagome looked up to see Kouga slinking off, obviously hurt. He turned back only once, to look at her with both longing and defeat in his eyes, before loping off towards east. After that she didn't look at anyone, not even Rin when Ah-Un landed. The young priestess would not move, so they decided to camp there that night.

_Why was Sesshomaru protecting me? Why did Kouga freak out like that? _Thoughts rushed unbidden through her mind. _What if what Kouga said was true? Wait, I always knew that Sesshomaru was just using me, that's the basis of this whole deal. But, what if, instead of just using me, Sesshomaru likes me? Even just a little bit? _She shook her head back and forth to rid herself of the impossible idea. _No, he doesn't like anyone, except Rin. _She smiled a bit, and then frowned as she realized how worried the small girl must be about her. She turned to look at her young travelling companion, who was busy trying to light the portable cooker. She stood up, stiff from sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees for far too long, and moved to help her. Rin was happy to have Kagome back to normal, and chattered happily about nonsensical shenanigans from the old days. _But maybe he can grow to like me, too?_

Sesshomaru was busy contemplating. He attempted to reason for his possessive reaction towards the miko. He rationalized that she was working under him, for his ward. Therefore, the miko was naturally under his protection. But that reason seemed wrong, it was not the only explanation as to why he acted the way he did. He returned to camp rather late, expecting to see the miko still awake and staring at the ground as she had been for the few hours before he left, but she wasn't there. Looking around he saw her, snuggled with Rin inside the sleeping bag as the fire died. Both females were sleeping comfortably in each other's presence it seemed.

A bit of the ice around his heart melted away.

**Alright guys! That was my first time writing any sort of action scene, how did I do? As always, criticism is welcome! Please review, send in ideas if you want, and thank you for reading! **


	10. Mind to Mind

**First off, I am SO HAPPY that my last chapter got such a good response, thank you everyone! Secondly: OVER 1000 VISITORS! THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THAT POSSIBLE! I'm happy about it can't you tell? As I try to do, I would like to thank Secretmuch, Sassy618, Aryabloodlust, DeLaLunaLove, Lady Blah Blah, and pinkiceangelbaby!**

**Secretmuch: thank you!**

**luckgirl13: I'm very happy you think so!**

**SymmetricalGirl8DeathTheKid: no problem! And thanks, I was really nervous posting the last chapter that no one would like it **

**Springflowerangel: well, here it is!**

**Bird That Flies At Dawn: yay! **

**sakemori: I'm ecstatic that you want to read more! And here is another chapter!**

**Lady Blah Blah: omygoodness…. If I tried to end it here, I think my heart would explode. I would literally be sitting in my room, watching my computer thinking "I should continue… but I decided to leave it there… what if people hate me? What am I going to do with my life now? Why did I stop?" And then my heart would explode and I would become a zombie just so I could finish this story. But thankfully, I have no willpower, so my fingers will continue to type this story out no matter how tired I get. **

**Lastly, tonight is opening night of my school play, so I will most likely be a zombie to the outside world for the next few days, but I'll update again AS SOON AS I CAN! If you remember from a while ago my parents took my computer away? Well, I just kind of took it back and they haven't really noticed yet, so I'm using their ignorance to my advantage! **

**Actually, one more note: Sesshomaru has a face-to-face with his inner beast this chapter, so from now on anytime Sesshomaru's Beast is talking, the Beast's words will be bolded! Onward to the story! **

As Sesshomaru stood there watching Rin and Kagome sleep, he began to ponder. _Why did this Sesshomaru react so strongly? _He had already decided that the miko was _his _personal property, but something else tugged at his mind, something _instinctual _that he did not want to release. His other self began to struggle against the confines of his mind, apparently it knew what the other reason was for saving the girl, but Sesshomaru beat it down.

Sesshomaru had a tight rein on his inner beast, so tight that Sesshomaru hadn't even heard its voice in nearly two centuries. Even when he was—he wouldn't say _fighting, _the small struggle was just about effortless on his part—teaching the younger demon a lesson and had to change forms, his beast did not have control. In fact, if not for its obvious resistance now, he would have believed his other self no longer existed, and the chance for losing his perfect self-control would disappear completely. As soon as he pushed down the voice that was slowly gaining volume in his mind, it reared again. He was beginning to get frustrated.

Walking along the edge of the small campsite, he found a decent enough spot and sat down in a meditative pose. He liked to think of himself and his other self as occupying two separate rooms, one that was in control, and one that was locked, barred, and buried in the recesses of his consciousness. He brought up an image of these two rooms in his mind, and created an antechamber between them. He stepped forward into the antechamber, erasing the door behind him. The room was white, the door leading to the prison room, black. Slowly, the door eased open, and a red-eyed Sesshomaru with extended fangs entered the room before the black door disappeared as well.

"This Sesshomaru locked you away for a reason."

"**I have a reason to resist bondage now."**

"You are saying you could have resisted during all this time, but chose not to." It wasn't a question, yet his beast treated it as such.

"**Yes."**

"This Sesshomaru does not wish to—"

"**I know why you do not say 'I' when talking." **Sesshomaru's beast was the only being that could interrupt the great demon lord and live. **"By saying 'this Sesshomaru' you are separating us. We are one, I am you, you are me. Confining half of your self only makes you weaker. **_**You **_**may be strong alone, but together, **_**we **_**are stronger. If you wish to protect Kagome you must allow our minds to meld, and think as one."**

"The miko is nothing but a nuisance; if not for Rin this Sesshomaru would have left the miko at the well."

"**No, we **_**wouldn't**_** have left her there. And her name is Kagome, you should start using it. It may soften her heart to us."**

"Why should the miko's heart soften to this Sesshomaru? This Sesshomaru would prefer to be feared by all…" A small face projected itself onto the wall. "Except for Rin." Her face disappeared. "If she is lucky, the miko will last six months before becoming useless to this Sesshomaru."

His beast turned from the wall where Rin's face had appeared. **"For the world's strongest, smartest demon, you really are dense. Even from buried inside this calculating mind of yours I could tell." **The golden-eyed Sesshomaru only scowled. His red-eyed counterpart sighed and took a few steps to stand less than a foot away from him.

"**Kagome is meant for us. She is destined to be our mate."**

**Sorry that this chapter is so short guys! But it's time for me to leave to go up to school, and I didn't want to leave you guys too long without a chapter. I'll be back in a few days! Please review and thanks for reading!**


	11. First Thing in the Morning

**Hiya guys! So, opening week didn't work out so well, there was this HUGE mess-up with grades and I ended up not being able to perform 2/6 nights! Needless to say, I was rather upset. But we closed last weekend, and I AM SO SORRY that I haven't been able to update. Thank you to Moonlight Harmony, ruthie109, Topaz Gravestone, wildrosesforever, MadHatter'sLover, cem95, blackcrow123, Blondeinblack1, Springflowerangel, darknessxinxyourxheart, xXAngel AlliXx, narcissashiffer666, mayagonza, and Sarlaya!**

**Here is where I normally answer reviews, but I'm beginning to think that it's taking up too much so I'll thank them here from now on, but reply to reviews by private message. Thanks for the reviews from sakemori, Bird That Flies At Dawn, MadHatter'sLover, Springflowerangel, SymmetricalGirl8DeathTheKid, Esoulix, and Lioness Of the fire!**

**Well, now that we know that Sesshy's beast is all for being with Kagome, but how will normal Sesshy react? :3 You can find out right now if you want!**

_Recap: **"And her name is Kagome, you should start using it. It may soften her heart to us."**_

_"Why should the miko's heart soften to this Sesshomaru? This Sesshomaru would prefer to be feared by all…" A small face projected itself onto the wall. "Except for Rin." Her face disappeared. "If she is lucky, the miko will last six months before becoming useless to this Sesshomaru."_

_His beast turned from the wall where Rin's face had appeared. **"For the world's strongest, smartest demon, you really are dense. Even from buried inside this calculating mind of yours I could tell."** The golden-eyed Sesshomaru only scowled. His red-eyed counterpart sighed and took a few steps to stand less than a foot away from him._

_**"Kagome is meant for us. She is destined to be our mate."**_

Sesshomaru merely blinked in defiance. "Ridiculous, the miko is human."

**"She is also extremely powerful, and the last guardian of the Shikon jewel, do you forget that it was she who caused the jewel to disappear?"**

Sesshomaru refused to answer his counterpart's question, choosing instead to avert his gaze and stare at the blank walls**."You cannot ignore prophecy."** Sesshomaru turned, startled, to his beast. Inside his mind was the only place he allowed his emotions to show, and right now his eyebrows were arched in disbelief.

"Prophecy?" The incredulous word hung in the air for a moment and resonated between the two of them.

His beast guffawed.** "You'll have to find out! It sure got your attention though!"** Golden eyes glared daggers at the laughing figure.

"This Sesshomaru will change fate." His beast sobered up quickly and returned an even stare at his pristine warden.

**"I will not allow you to deny us for very long. You will love her."** Sesshomaru hn'd non-committedly, his beast sighed as the black door reappeared and began to suck him back into the recesses of Sesshomaru's consciousness. **"I have not given up, and soon our thoughts will be as one."** The black door closed and faded away, as did the rest of the room, and the demon opened his eyes to bright rays of sunlight.

The demon Lord stood in one fluid motion, and moved towards the two still-slumbering girls. Careful, as not to wake Rin, he began poking Kagome in the shoulder, as an attempt to wake her, with the tip of his shoe. The dark-haired girl turned over in her sleeping bag, mumbling incoherently all the while. He continued to poke, instead now his target was her back. She rolled back over, wrapping her arms around his foot and pulling it close against her chest. "Fine Buyo, just let me sleep…"

Sesshomaru did not know who this "Buyo" was, but apparently it wanted Kagome awake unless it was allowed to cuddle. The thought of the innocent miko cuddling with someone caused an inner anger to flare. He realized the reaction belonged to his beast, and allowed the girl to continue her imaginary cuddling out of spite. But, before long, she began to awaken.

-Normal POV-

_This cat always wants to snuggle,_ she thought to herself as she hugged it closer. Her sleep-induced haze began to clear. _But wait, Buyo's back at home… Or forward at home… So… what is…_ She opened her eyes to see that she was snuggling a black-clad foot. As her eyes traveled upwards, she saw black against white and began to panic. _No… This can't be…_ She made eye contact with Sesshomaru, whose eyes held a weird mixture of amusement and fury. She squeaked and flung his foot away, a bright scarlet blush rushing to her cheeks.

"Oh! I-I-I am so…" Her mind reeled, trying to overcome the embarrassment currently soaking every cell in her body. She took a deep breath and bowed, if only to hide her face from view. "My apologies, Sesshomaru-sama."

Said demon lifted a single, arching eyebrow, letting this tiny break in his mask portray his confusion. _He can actually move his face!_ Kagome didn't know how many more surprises she could take. Deciding to explain, she took a deep breath, not really wanting to find out how he was going to react. She cleared her throat, lacing her fingers together and looking down. "Well, I thought your foot was Buyo… and he wakes me up unless I let him under the covers with me, so I guess it was just kind of a reflex reaction…?" What had started as a statement trailed off as a question, and Sesshomaru's eyebrow remained in place. "Buyo's my cat, by the way." His other eyebrow rose to match the first, giving Kagome the third emotion she'd ever clearly seen on his face. The first had been rage, in his father's tomb, before… she didn't want to go there right now. The second and third had been within the past five minutes, first confusion and now incredulity.

"You thought the foot of this Sesshomaru, to be a cat?" Even his voice let leak a bit of emotion, there was disbelief in there, as was expected, but a strange echo of relief that sounded almost… distant.

"Yes, I'm very sorry." The raven-haired girl became very interested in her toes, and Sesshomaru decided that, while his beast was obviously happy about Buyo just being a pet, the girl deserved some form of punishment. He scented a rainstorm on the way and got an idea.

"Miko," he drawled in a silken voice. "As punishment for latching onto this Sesshomaru's person, and given your clearly demonstrated affinity for feet, you have been given the task of cleaning Ah-Un's talons this evening." Kagome felt her jaw drop and her anger started to rise dangerously quickly.

"Why do I have to do that? If you hadn't been standing right there doing whatever it was you were doing, none of this would have happened!" She huffed and crossed her arms, turning around and walking a few steps toward her backpack before turning around again and returning to her original spot. "What were you doing anyway?" She tapped her finger against her upper arm, waiting for a reply.

"Waking you, miko. As you can see, this Sesshomaru succeeded." Kagome opened her mouth again to argue but Sesshomaru cut her off. "The punishment still stands."

**I'm sorry that it's been so long, and this chapter is just kinda… kinda. It's kinda. I seem to have lost my muse, but don't worry! I'll be back to normal in no time! Didn't make it into the upcoming show, so now I have a ton of time to write! I'm going to do my best to get maybe a few more chapters up today, so be on the lookout!**


	12. Plotting in the Rain

**So, I didn't get anything else up yesterday, but I'm back! Thanks to grace days three, lilheather, xXSunSparkXx, llebreknit, Tokahlia, Falcoskater, pwndbyjessie, LordSesshy-kun, TamaRose, ulmm, and Kace23! **

**Thanks for the reviews from Springflowerangel, LordSesshy-kun, pwndbyjessie, Lioness Of the fire, llebreknit, xXSunSparkXx, grace days three, Bird That Flies At Dawn, Topaz Gravestone, and Sassy618!**

**OH NOOOOOOO! I was rereading some of my earlier chapters so I could remember what I wrote, and I realized that I made a HUGE mistake! I've been writing like Sesshomaru only has one arm, but he got his arm back when he got his sword! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO I am so disappointed in myself right now. You guys have no idea… But I can't really change it now… I'll have to find a way to get him his arm back… Suggestions would be highly appreciated!**

**Anyway! I've planned for a lot of cuteness in these next couple of chapters, so let the cuteness begin!**

Kagome pouted at the corner of the camp while Sesshomaru kicked Jaken awake. _That jerk, making me clean _his _dragon's talons… _She glanced over at the toad's lumpy green form as he grumbled awake in the dirt. _Shouldn't Jaken be the one to do that stuff? _Since the campsite wasn't quite that big, she clearly heard when Sesshomaru informed his retainer that Kagome would be cleaning Ah-Un's talons that day.

Jaken beamed.

Despite being a bit put off by his obviously apparent joy, she couldn't help but smile a little bit for him. She rolled her shoulders back, shaking her mind clear of any residual negative thoughts about her punishment. _I guess just this once won't be so bad. Besides, the sun is shining, the path seems to be relatively clean, and Sesshomaru did say yesterday that we would be flying as much as possible today… _She smiled and began to pack up her things with a renewed energy, putting her shameful waking out of her mind.

_Yeah, this shouldn't be so bad._

Rain.

Lots of rain.

Buckets of rain. Pouring down from the skies without mercy. The group had only been going for an hour or two. And were they flying? Oh, no. His royal highness did not _wish to travel _during the downpour and was sitting with an amused almost-smirk on his face at the base of a large tree. Kagome glared at him from a few feet away where she was standing underneath her umbrella. Unfortunately, they were the only two taking refuge from the weather. Rin and Ah-Un were having a contest to see whose feet could get covered with more mud before the rain stopped, and Jaken was standing nearby encouraging them. With every splash, cheer from Jaken, and competitive giggle from Rin, Kagome added another few minutes of talon scraping to her growing mental tally.

She could feel Sesshomaru's eyes on her, and was determined not to show her annoyance. Deciding to be civil, for now, she walked over and took a seat next to him, closing up her umbrella and laying it on its side on a bit of grass.

"How did you know the rain was coming? There weren't any clouds in the sky for miles." His almost-smirk grew a fraction wider.

"Rain has a distinct smell. This Sesshomaru knows hours before if a rainstorm is on the way."

Kagome's jaw dropped as realization hit her. "You _knew _this would happen!"

"Hn."

"You jerk!" She yelled angrily, standing up and stomping away from the protection of the tree. When she was about thirty feet away, she realized two things.

One, she had forgotten to grab her umbrella.

Two, she was sopping wet.

She froze, fuming, silently cursing the dog demon into the brightest, most cuddly animal-filled, toddler-inhabited area of Toys 'R Us possible. _Without his youkai. _She imagined maniacally. Lost in her evil daydreams, she didn't notice the demon in question come walking up to her under the cover of her bright red umbrella.

"Miko, you will catch cold." She jumped at the sound of his voice, and shivered just as she was about to protest. "Do not pass your illness on to Rin." She said nothing, and gave him the evil eye. The thought popped into her mind of dozens of two-year olds pulling on his hair and demanding he give them piggy-back rides. She smiled against her will. "What do you find amusing about this Sesshomaru, miko?" She shook her head and continued to give him a cynical grin.

"Nothing." A high-pitched giggle from Rin stole the attention of the two, and they stood somewhat side by side for a moment, watching the three playing in the rain. After a few minutes, Kagome's shivers became worse and she realized Sesshomaru was standing under _her _umbrella, leaving her to continue to be soaked through. Her bangs were plastered to her forehead, and her naturally wavy hair was limp and straight, sticking determinedly to the back of her neck. Water dripped of her nose and fingers as she pulled her hair out of her eyes. "Are you going to let me under there?"

The tall demon looked down his nose at the dripping girl standing beside him. "There is no need. You are already wet, miko. This covering will not help you now."

"Well, I want it back."

"No. This Sesshomaru would get wet."

She tried to take refuge underneath it, but he moved away from her. "The least you can do is share!" But he continued walking away, a slight chuckle, unheard by all but him, lazily making its way between his lips as a low thunder rumbled overhead.

-Sesshomaru POV-

_This, _umbrella, _of the miko's is rather handy. If not so poorly constructed it would be quite helpful for Rin while flying. _Sesshomaru made a mental note to have some of his blacksmiths find a sturdier way of constructing the strange future contraption. The location he had previously been standing with the miko was steadily becoming a mud puddle, so he moved to higher ground. The miko remained where he had left her, looking like the pathetic kitten Rin rescued after it fell into the pond. It was then that it occurred to him, the miko had called him… a jerk? He was not acquainted with this term, and caught her eye. He gestured for her to come over, but she shook her head, flinging water in every possible direction, and turned her back to him. _It seems like a bargain will have to be made. _

"Miko." She did not turn around. "This Sesshomaru will return your umbrella if you answer a question."

She slowly turned around, a suspicious look in her eye, and approached him cautiously. "What is it?"

"What is a jerk?" The female paled further, quite a feat in her shivering, dripping state, and her nervous swallow was audible above the storm.

"You know what? You can keep the umbrella, since I'm already wet anyway." With that, she splashed off and Sesshomaru was left standing with a less than positive idea of the word's definition.

-Normal POV-

_That was close… _She breathed a sigh of relief and decided to just deal with it. _I'm already soaked through, may as well have some fun! _Kagome ran with a smile over to Rin, Jaken, and Ah-Un; somewhere along the line the toad had joined in the with game and they had all turned into mud people. Head to toe they were covered in the not-quite-liquid-not-quite-solid substance, the whites of their eyes a stark contrast to the rest of their bodies. Rin beamed up at Kagome as she approached, and the older girl couldn't help but smile back.

"Would Kagome like to play with us?" The mud-girl asked, with the innocent mischievousness that only a child can master, and Kagome got a brilliant idea.

"Yes I would love to! But that means Sesshomaru-sama will be left out." Rin's mouth became a small "o" of horror. "But I know how we can include him!" Kagome let her voice drop to a whisper as she told her plan to four attentive sets of ears. _Sesshomaru you're about to learn what happens when you don't share. _

**So, I'm typing the next chapter right now, and I hope you all like this one! Maybe tomorrow I'll have an extra bit of fluff in honor of the holiday! Thank you for reading and check back soon!**


	13. Playing in the Rain

**Hi again! Thanks to FLSongbird722, dark-dreamer-99, and KagHieiLuver! **

**On with the plotting! This chapter starts out in Sesshomaru's point of view by the way.**

After they rolled around in the mud for a few more minutes, they took cautious steps toward Sesshomaru. They slowly surrounded him, something he realized instantly, but he made no move to retreat since he _was _Sesshomaru, after all.

"Now!" Kagome's command was not unexpected by the dog demon, and as four mud-covered bodies lunged at him, he jumped upwards.

Normally such a jump would have carried him away from them, but he was holding Kagome's umbrella, and it slowed his ascent just a fraction too much. A flurry of brown, white, silver, and red was all that an onlooker would see as the great Sesshomaru was brought down by two humans, his retainer, and a two-headed dragon. The five of them landed with a rather large splash, Kagome, Rin, and Jaken sprawled over a less than happy Sesshomaru, with Ah-Un nuzzling his master further in the mud. The dog demon didn't even bother to growl, he simply flung Kagome's umbrella away and made to sit up. Kagome was on her stomach across his lap, giggling with the smaller two of the mud people who were each currently sitting on his knees. Jaken was the first to notice his glare and roll off of the demon, but the two girls were content to lay there in the mud. Rin beamed up at him, her side ponytail hanging limply and dripping filth.

"Are you having fun, Sesshomaru-sama?" _Fun? Is that what this is? _His normally pristine appearance was gone, mud specks freckled his face, his long silver hair lay tangled with bits of dirt and grass sticking out of it, and, his biggest peeve, he had dirt under his claws. _This is not fun. _

_**Sure it is! **_Sesshomaru was shocked at himself. Their measly little surprise attack had lessened the hold he had on his beast! He tried to rein his other consciousness back in, but couldn't. This irked him greatly. _**Oh, come on. **_His counterpart wheedled. _**Even **_**you **_**had to admit that was kind of fun. **_

_That was no such thing. __**Sure it was! **__No, it was not. Maybe for you, heathen, but not for this Sesshomaru. Now go back into your cell. _A feeling of smugness that was not his own coursed through a part of his mind. He could see his beast crossing its arms. _**Nope. I'm here to stay. Their little prank let me out, and thank goodness too! You have any idea how stuffy it is in there? Now, go on. Have some fun! **_

_No. _

_**I should have known. Poor Sesshomaru, you probably couldn't have fun even if your life is in danger. **_

_This Sesshomaru does not wish to have fun. _

_**Well some of us do! You know what, I'll make you a deal. Let me out for the afternoon and I'll drop the whole "Kagome is our mate" bit for a few days, how's that sound?**_

Sesshomaru pondered for a moment. Now that his beast was unlocked, a few days of mental peace was going to end up being required. _How does this Sesshomaru know you will relinquish control back after you are done "having fun?"_

_**Believe me, you'll get your control back. I don't want to have to deal with all the stuffy palace-running lordship things, I just want to get out for a few hours. **_The stoic Sesshomaru continued to mull it over. _**And I won't try anything funny with Kagome while I'm in control, promise. **_

With a sigh that conveyed his annoyance and consent, Sesshomaru relinquished control over to his beast.

_Only for a few hours. No funny business, and you will willingly give me control back if things get out of hand. _

_**Yeah, yeah. Go mope or something. **_

Free at last, his beast beamed.

-Normal POV-

When Kagome looked up at Sesshomaru, she expected to see eyes tinted with red, and slightly extended fangs. What she had not expected to see, was the dazzling smile that adorned said features. The smile terrified her more than anything.

"Sesshomaru-sama! You're smiling!" Rin's voice climbed octaves with her excitement.

"Well," he said. "I'm not really Sesshomaru. I'm his beast." Kagome's face froze between shock, confusion, and amused denial.

"No… you can't be… can you?"

"Yep." He stood up, shaking mud and water everywhere, and helped the two girls up onto their feet. "He and I made a deal, he lets me come out and have fun for a few hours, and I drop a touchy subject for a few days." He hadn't yet released Kagome's hand.

"What touchy subject?" The older girl asked.

"That is for us to know," here the beast bowed slightly, kissing her hand which was still in his grip. "And you to find out my beautiful Kagome." She blushed at the action, gently pulling her hand away. He winked, and picked up Rin to place her on his shoulder. "He doesn't like to think of us as the same person, so for right now, why don't we use my nickname?"

"Nickname?" Kagome asked, bewildered.

"Fluffy!" Rin cried out, ecstatic. "Sango and Miroku's kids always knew he was in there, that's why they called Sesshomaru-sama 'Fluffy!' They couldn't tell the difference yet."

"Rin," Kagome asked with a nervous glance, "has, um, _Fluffy _been let out before?"

"Nope!" She said, beaming, from atop the demon's shoulder. "But Rin knows he would never hurt her!"

"Well, whattaya say kiddo?" Fluffy asked, bouncing Rin up and down, but careful to not let her fall. "Wanna play in the mud some more?"

"Yes!"

A few hours later, a very tuckered-out Rin sat on Fluffy's shoulders, draped forward over the top of his head, fast asleep. Her arms wrapped around his forehead and clasped just above his eyes, her nose was buried into his now clean hair. Sometime after the rain stopped the group had taken a dip, clothes and all, into a nearby river to wash off the mud. Now, they continued walking, the sun hadn't yet gone down and Kagome had suggested they could make at least a mile or two before they had to make camp.

The walk so far had been in a companionable silence, Jaken and Ah-Un had been sent ahead to find a decent spot to stop, so it was just the three of them.

"So, you're Sesshomaru-sama's beast, huh?"

"Yep." He smiled over at her. "Fluffy, that's me!"

A few more moments of silence passed before Kagome erupted into a fit of giggles. Fluffy looked at her, confusion clearly evident, and she tried catch her breath enough to explain.

"I'm not going to be able to take Sesshomaru-sama seriously if I think 'Fluffy' every time I look at him!" She got out between chortles. "Could I call you something else, perhaps?"

He sent a warm smile her way. "Sure. You can call me Maru. Deep down, Sesshomaru has always wanted someone to call him that, so that's what you can call me."

"Okay, Maru." She smiled back at him, but her smile faltered after a moment.

"What is it?" There was genuine concern in his voice. "You can tell me."

"Would you like to be my friend?" The question caught in her throat, but she needed to know that _somewhere _inside Sesshomaru, there was some sort of bond between them.

"I would like that very much, Kagome." Happiness bubbled up in her throat at his answer. She ran over and gave him a hug.

"Thank you!" She looked up in time to see Maru wince. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, Sesshomaru's throwing a bit of a hissy fit. Talking about 'letting things get out of hand' and 'give this Sesshomaru back control.' Things like that." Maru sighed. "Might as well go back, if I go quietly he may let me out again. Will you grab Rin, Kagome? I don't want to chance Sesshomaru dropping her." Kagome nodded, and grabbed the girl, shifting her to settle on her waist. Before she knew it, Maru had wrapped her in a bear tight hug. She tentatively wrapped her free arm around his waist, returning the gesture. A small chuckle reached her ear. "Wonder how he's gonna react to this?"

Kagome didn't waste time processing the question, she simply hugged Maru for all she was worth and whispered. "Come back soon!" In the few hours since he appeared, Kagome had grown to like this other side of Sesshomaru. He was funny, silly, and best of all, very sweet. It was hard for her to believe that Sesshomaru had chosen to lock this part of himself away. She didn't know how long she stood there holding him, but she was soon brought back down to Earth when a cool voice, she recognized all too well, spoke.

"Miko. Release this Sesshomaru immediately."

**So what do you guys think of Maru? Did I spend enough time on his character? I really want Maru to be likeable, but still Sesshomaru, does that make any sense? Reviews are always highly appreciated! Thank you for reading and happy Valentine's Day to all of you! **


	14. The Spoken Truth

**So um… Hello! I realize I fell of the face of the Earth for a while there, I'm sorry. Every time I sat down and tried to continue this story, I just couldn't think of anything. Something else popped into my mind, and I started working on that, but it will end up being a long story as well. I feel so guilty every time I work on that, so I've decided to write at least one chapter of this for every two I write of my other story. (If anyone is curious, I'm going to try and get it completely done before I start posting it, just so this whole situation doesn't repeat itself. It's a Sherlock story, and I'll post the title in another author's note—once I think of a title—in case any of you would perchance want to read it.) Maybe if I start up this again it will get easier to continue. Thank you so much for sticking with me despite my disappearance, it really does mean a lot. **

Kagome backed quickly away from Sesshomaru. His posture was perfect and confident, very different from Maru's laidback, carefree way of holding himself. They stood together in silence, until Jaken arrived on Ah-Un's back.

"Sesshomaru-sama! The camp is ready and awaits your arrival!"

Kagome thanked him, and gave Rin to Ah-Un, telling Jaken to take her back with them and put her in the sleeping bag. The three flew off and Kagome looked back to Sesshomaru, to see if he would continue walking.

Sesshomaru seemed to be pouting the tiniest bit. "This Sesshomaru would not have dropped Rin."

Kagome blinked worriedly. "You heard that?"

"This Sesshomaru heard everything." His golden eyes, which had been staring off into the distance, now flicked to her face and locked onto her own chocolate orbs. "My consciousness may not have been visible, but it was present." She immediately replayed her afternoon with Maru, looking for any moments where she may have said or done something embarrassing. There were quite a few. She blushed lightly, which drew Sesshomaru's attention. "I do not understand."

"Understand what?" She asked, a piece of her mind cheering, _Someone get a recorder! Sesshomaru just admitted there's something he doesn't understand! _But another part of her realized that this was not exactly the time for jokes.

"Why you blush, miko. You were not troubled to act like a child in front of… Maru, as he has requested to be called. Why now?"

"Well, you're… you." She fidgeted under his inquisitive stare, hoping he would let her answer lie. But when he remained silent, she continued grudgingly. "The great and mighty Sesshomaru-sama! You rule your lands with an iron fist, strike fear into the hearts of all you meet and have an intense hatred for almost all things human! If I make one wrong move, disrespect you or make you unhappy in any way, I could be killed instantly—not that I'd put up much of a fight—and you would continue on your way."

"_Maru _is this Sesshomaru, as well."

"No, no. Maru is you… _before _you were you. He's the piece of yourself you locked away so you wouldn't have to deal with any sort of weakness, emotional or otherwise. But, don't you see Sesshomaru-sama? Running away from any potential weaknesses the way you did is a weakness in itself! You're a coward."

Immediately she regretted her choice of words, she hadn't meant to say all that, but once she started she found she couldn't stop. The anger radiated off him in waves, she had found a chink in his armor. His poison whip grew out of his claws and he swung out his arm masterfully. A stinging slash appeared on her arm, he was using great measures of control to keep his whip well below full potency.

"Retract your statement, miko." He said evenly. Another slash appeared on her leg, she hadn't even seen him move.

Keeping eye contact, she breathed in deeply before replying firmly. "No." Another slash, this one on her cheek, just below her eye.

"Retract it. Now." Another slash, arm.

"No." Another slash.

"Yes." Another slash.

"No." Another slash.

"You do not put up a fight." Another.

"I told you I would not." Another.

"Why is that, miko." Another.

"Because I'm tired of trying to live."

-Sesshomaru POV-

_What? The miko… does not wish to live? _Sesshomaru tried to reason out how she could make such a statement with honesty. Maru roared from within him. _**Stop! She merely told us the truth! Even we, who strive for total honesty at all times, must understand this! **__Irrelevant. The miko spoke against this Sesshomaru, she must be punished. __**She told us what we needed to hear! Even you cannot fault her for that! **__Be quiet. __**I will NOT be quiet! **_Maru's rage churned like the seas in a storm, rising oppressively to overtake Sesshomaru's consciousness. _**We will not hurt her anymore! **_Sesshomaru spitefully wielded his whip again. Another wound appeared along the woman's neck. And, like with the others, she held her ground and did not look away from his face. Sesshomaru pushed Maru back down and returned his attention to the human. Her wounds had begun to fester and eat away at the surrounding skin.

"Why do you say this, miko?"

Chocolate eyes hardened with the renewal of memories. "I told you my story Sesshomaru, you should understand." This was true, she had not left anything out with the telling of her story, including the love she claimed she felt for his half-brother Inuyasha.

"You would kill yourself for the mutt?"

"I will not actively take my life, but neither will I actively save it."

"Explain." Sesshomaru truly did not understand this feeling of _love, _detrimental enough to lead many to their deaths.

"When your brother left, he took a chunk of me away with him."

"That is incorrect, miko. This Sesshomaru can clearly see that you are whole."

"A chunk of my heart, Sesshomaru-sama. A thing you believe to be useless and locked away with Maru. Today I realized just how empty he made me. Laughing with everyone, playing, talking, I realized how much I have been lying to myself. I thought I was strong, that maybe I could even be friends with you, or at least Maru, but I can't. Every time I look at you, I see him. You may claim to be completely different, but the two of you are more alike than you realize." A small smile came upon her face. "He used to stay awake until everyone was asleep, just like you do. He would sniff out places for me to bathe, and protect me from Kouga. And sometimes, when he thought I wasn't watching, he would get this sad look on his face. I won't pretend to know why he ever looked that way, but I've seen it on your face too." Sesshomaru's face had gone blank with shock, the girl was much more observant than he gave her credit for. "I'm tired of living with these memories, knowing that he loves me back, but can't get rid of his thoughts of… her." She laughed at herself with disgust. "He's out there, right now, looking for a way to bring her back, and I keep checking behind me. Waiting for him to come running up the road and tell me he's sorry, that he didn't mean to hurt me, that he loves only me. I'm tired of waiting Sesshomaru!"

The dog demon blinked at her, and she understood instantly what he meant. "I don't want your pity, Sesshomaru." For the first time in a long time, he didn't know what to do. So he went with what he knew.

"That's twice you have used this Sesshomaru's improperly, miko." He raised the potency of his whip to a nearly lethal level and added two more wounds to her body. By now the poison had greatly eaten away at her skin, and she fell to the ground, shaking. He kept his eyes trained on her, finding it harder to justify his actions now that he could not see her defiant eyes. "Now heal yourself, miko. We must continue."

Kagome gently rolled over onto her back and laid in the middle of the path as one would lay in a coffin. "No. I told you, I will not actively… heal… myself." Sesshomaru could see her consciousness fading, and Maru's rage and concern overpowered him completely.

"NO!" The now-freed Maru yelled, and he knelt down beside her. "Please, Kagome."

"No, Maru. I'm sorry." She closed her eyes, and her breathing became shallow.

_**I will not let this happen. **_Lifting her face to his, he found one of the last two wounds Sesshomaru had made on her forehead, the other on her arm. He paid attention to those two first, gently licking them clean and purifying any trace of poison. The he cleaned the rest of them, hoping he had not broken free too late for her to be saved. Once her wounds were taken care of he scooped her up in his arms and began to carry her to the camp. _**Look what we have done to the woman we love, Sesshomaru. **_Maru looked around his mind, but couldn't locate Sesshomaru's consciousness. Looking deeper, a resonance came from inside his old cell. In his rage, he must have shoved Sesshomaru in and locked him there. _**I will deal with this later. **_Right now, all that mattered was Kagome's safety. And she was not safe around Sesshomaru.

**So…. I actually got through up until Maru picks her up, before realizing that I had never gotten Rin out of there, so I had to go add in the part where Jaken and Ah-Un showed up. So if that part seems really weird and out of place, that's why. Please read and review, and thanks again for not giving up on me completely!**


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